Most leadership failures don’t come from bad intentions. They come from rushed thinking. From leaders who move fast, but don’t move smart. Who make calls based on what’s urgent instead of what’s right. Who optimize for short-term wins and create long-term trust deficits.

And in a world where your team is watching every move, where transparency is unavoidable, and where one bad decision can unravel months of credibility-building? You can’t afford sloppy decision-making.

You need a filter. A framework. A set of questions that force you to pause, think, and lead with intention.

The Cost of Sloppy Decisions

We’re living in an era where trust is everything and attention is scarce. Your team isn’t just executing your decisions, they’re evaluating them. They’re watching how you decide. What you prioritize. Who you protect. What you’re willing to sacrifice.

And every decision you make either builds their confidence in your leadership or erodes it. Every. Single. One.

When you make a decision that feels rushed, that contradicts your stated values, that prioritizes optics over outcomes, your team notices. They might not say anything. But they feel it.

And over time, those feelings compound into doubt:

“Do they actually believe what they say they believe?”

“Are we building something real here, or are we just reacting?”

“Can I trust them to make the hard call when it matters?”

Once that doubt sets in, it’s brutal to reverse. Because trust isn’t rebuilt with words. It’s rebuilt with consistent, values-aligned decisions over time.

Which means the best strategy is to not break trust in the first place. And that starts with asking better questions before you decide.

Question #1: Does This Align With Our Values?

Here’s the first question fierce leaders ask before every major decision: Does this align with our values?

Not “Is this pragmatic?” Not “Will this work?” Not “Is this what everyone else is doing?”

But: Does this reflect the principles we said we stand for?

Because here’s what most leaders miss: Principled beats pragmatic. Especially in a transparent world where your “how” matters more than your “what.”

Your team doesn’t just care about what you’re trying to achieve. They care about how you’re trying to achieve it. Are you cutting corners? Are you compromising integrity for speed? Are you saying one thing publicly and doing another privately?

If there’s a gap between your stated values and your actual decisions, people see it. And they lose faith. Not just in the decision. In you.

The Application

Before you move forward on anything significant, ask yourself: “If I had to explain this decision to my team using only our core values, could I make a compelling case?”

If the answer is yes, if this decision is a direct expression of what you’ve said matters most, then you’re on solid ground.

But if you’re having to justify it, rationalize it, or convince yourself that “this time is different”? That’s a red flag. That’s your gut telling you this decision isn’t aligned. And when you ignore that signal, you erode trust.

Now, I know what some of you are thinking: “But Sterling, sometimes you have to be pragmatic. Sometimes the values-aligned choice isn’t realistic.”

Here’s my response: Then your values are wrong.

Real values aren’t aspirational statements you put on the wall. They’re decision-making filters you use under pressure. If your “values” only work when things are easy, they’re not values. They’re marketing copy.

Real values guide you especially when it’s hard. When the pragmatic choice conflicts with the principled one. When doing the right thing costs you something. That’s when values matter. That’s when they separate fierce leaders from transactional ones.

Your Next Step

Before your next major decision, write down your organization’s top three values. Then ask: “Which of these values does this decision express? And how would I explain that connection to my team?”

If you can’t connect the dots clearly, don’t move forward until you can. Or adjust the decision until it aligns.

Question #2: Does This Build Trust or Burn It?

Here’s the second question fierce leaders ask: Does this build trust or burn it?

Not “Will people like this?” Not “Is this popular?” But: Will this decision strengthen or weaken the trust between me and my team?

Because trust is the new currency. It’s not a nice-to-have. It’s the operating system that determines whether your leadership actually works.

The Trust Bank Account

Think about your credibility like a bank account. Every decision you make is either a deposit or a withdrawal.

When you keep your word? Deposit.

When you make a promise and don’t follow through? Withdrawal.

When you’re transparent about a tough call? Deposit.

When you make a decision behind closed doors and spring it on people? Withdrawal.

When you admit a mistake and course-correct? Deposit.

When you double down on a bad decision to protect your ego? Withdrawal.

And here’s the brutal truth: Deposits build slowly. Withdrawals happen fast.

You can spend months building trust with consistent, values-aligned leadership. And you can lose it in a single poorly-handled decision.

So you need to be ruthlessly honest with yourself before you move forward: “Is this decision going to strengthen the trust my team has in me? Or is it going to make them question my judgment, my integrity, or my commitment to what we said we’re building?”

Unpopular vs. Trust-Breaking

Sometimes the right decision is going to be unpopular. Sometimes you have to make a call that people won’t like. That’s leadership.

But there’s a difference between an unpopular decision and a trust-breaking decision.

An unpopular decision is one where people disagree with your call but understand your reasoning and respect that you made it transparently, with their input, based on shared values.

A trust-breaking decision is one where people feel blindsided, manipulated, or lied to.

Fierce leaders know the difference. And they’re willing to make the unpopular call—but they won’t make the trust-breaking one.

Your Next Step

Before your next big decision, ask yourself: “If I announced this decision tomorrow in an all-hands meeting, would my team trust me more or less afterward?”

If the answer is “more,” even if they don’t all agree with the decision, you’re in good shape.

If the answer is “less,” if you can feel that this is going to damage credibility, that’s your signal to pause, rethink, or at minimum, change how you’re rolling it out.

Question #3: Does This Outlast Me?

Here’s the third question fierce leaders ask before every major decision: Does this outlast me?

Am I making a heroic move for today? Or a systemic move that sustains tomorrow?

Because here’s what separates leaders who create lasting impact from leaders who just keep things afloat: They’re thinking beyond their tenure. Beyond their ego. Beyond the next quarter.

They’re asking: “What am I building that will still be here when I’m gone?”

The Heroics Trap

A lot of leaders default to heroics. They make the call that saves the day. That fixes the immediate problem. That makes them look good in the moment.

And there’s a place for that. Sometimes you need to move fast and solve the crisis.

But if every decision you’re making is a heroic one? If every move is about you stepping in to save the situation? Then you’re not building a sustainable organization. You’re building a dependency machine.

And the moment you step away, the moment you’re not there to be the hero, everything falls apart.

Building Systems, Not Dependencies

Fierce leaders think differently. They ask: “How do I solve this in a way that creates a system, a process, a capability that doesn’t depend on me?”

They’re not trying to be the smartest person in the room. They’re trying to build a room full of people who can think, decide, and lead without needing constant intervention.

They’re not optimizing for short-term wins. They’re optimizing for long-term resilience.

Your Next Step

Before you make your next major call, ask yourself:

“Is this decision going to require me to keep showing up as the hero? Or is it going to create a framework that lets others lead?”

“Am I solving the problem? Or am I building the system that prevents this problem from happening again?”

“Will this decision strengthen the organization’s ability to function without me? Or will it make me more indispensable, and therefore make the organization more fragile?”

Those are the questions that separate reactive leadership from strategic leadership.

Because here’s the truth: The best leaders aren’t the ones who solve every problem. They’re the ones who build organizations that can solve problems without them. They’re the ones who create systems, frameworks, and cultures that outlast their personal involvement.

And when you make decisions with that lens, when you’re thinking about sustainability, not just survival, you build something real. Something that doesn’t fall apart the moment you’re not there to hold it together.

Your Framework

Before your next big decision, whether it’s a hiring call, a strategic pivot, a budget allocation, or a team restructure, write these three questions on a sticky note:

* Does this align with our values?

* Does this build trust or burn it?

* Does this outlast me?

And don’t move forward until you’ve answered all three. Honestly. Not with the answers you want to give. With the answers that are true.

Because if you can’t answer yes to all three, you need to either adjust the decision or accept that you’re making a trade-off that could cost you credibility, trust, or sustainability.

And sometimes that’s necessary. Sometimes you have to make the imperfect call. But at least you’ll be making it with full awareness of the cost. Not blindly. Not reactively.

With intention. With clarity. With fierce leadership.

That’s the standard. Hold yourself to it.

The fastest way to kill trust is sloppy decisions. But the fastest way to build trust is intentional ones. Decisions that are values-aligned, trust-building, and built to last.

That’s what fierce leaders do. That’s what separates great leadership from just loud leadership.

Listen to the full episode on The Rise podcast for more on fierce leadership and cutting through the noise to lead with clarity and influence.

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